National Park Service rangers issued citations Sunday to stop contractors working on repairs to seawalls along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Ogden Dunes.

“We asked them to stop Saturday, and they said they would, but didn’t, so we issued citations on Sunday,” Indiana Dunes National Park Superintendent Paul Labovitz said Tuesday.

The town had an emergency permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the repairs, but that was contingent on getting permits from other state and federal agencies, including the National Park Service, Labovitz said.

“We thought we were completely honoring the Corps permit,” said Rodger Howell, chair of the town’s Beach Nourishment and Protection Committee.The U.S. Department of Justice agreed to the plan for emergency repairs, and a federal judge gave his blessing, Howell said. The town is locked in a battle with the National Park Service and other agencies in a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the town earlier this year.

Labovitz said the citations were issued as a way to bring a decision on the question of whether the repairs should be permitted.